EDITORIAL - Conflagration

At least 15 people, most of them nursing graduates who reportedly went to the city to take their professional examinations, died in a fire that gutted a five-story building in Tuguegarao yesterday. An investigation is still ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.

The tragedy should remind the nation that apart from March, declared as Fire Prevention Month because it has traditionally been the period when the biggest number of conflagrations occurs in this country, deadly fires often occur during the holiday season. Accidents in firecracker factories and stores have started fires that razed homes and commercial establishments. Defective Christmas lights and faulty wiring for holiday lighting have triggered fires even in posh homes. A daughter of Pangasinan lawmakers Jose and Gina de Venecia died before Christmas Day 2004 after lights on their Christmas tree triggered a fire that engulfed the second floor of their Makati home.

Faulty electrical wiring is also being eyed as the likely cause of the fire that broke out at 1 a.m. yesterday at the Bed and Breakfast Pension House in Tuguegarao. A survivor said lights in the hotel started blinking at around 10 p.m. Saturday. Arson investigators said the building lacked fire extinguishers and a fire alarm system. Doors to the fire exits could not be opened and window grills trapped the occupants in their rooms. The hotel was located near the city fire department but initial reports said it took an hour for the fire trucks to arrive and four hours to contain the blaze.

Similar fires could occur in other establishments across the country. Owners should take it upon themselves to ensure that electrical systems are well maintained and sufficient to handle the additional requirements of Christmas lights. Among the 15 fatalities in Tuguegarao were the hotel owners themselves including their children and grandchildren. It is possible to prevent similar tragedies.